


Learned

by Missy



Category: Scooby Doo - All Media Types, Scooby-Doo! (Live-action Movies)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, POV First Person, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-11
Updated: 2012-11-11
Packaged: 2017-11-18 10:09:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/559821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missy/pseuds/Missy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This time, it was Old Man McGuillicudy's wife....</p>
            </blockquote>





	Learned

This time, it was Old Man McGuillicudy's wife. 

She wanted the old hamburger stand for herself, you see. She shouldn't have left all of those paint tracks everywhere she stepped, though. Made it very easy for me to make the necessary calculations.

I suppose I shouldn't brag, but sometimes I can't help it. We all had a hand in it, but if I hadn't made that extra step, Freddie boy would've been a cheese sandwich of death...

A rangy arm wraps itself around my neck. "Are you, like okay, Vel?"

I relax into the embrace despite myself. "I'm okay, Shag. It's just a little burn mark. How's Fred?"

"The Cheeze Weezy burned off his eyebrows! They're, like, nowhereseville, man!"

I smile. Shaggy always has a way of making me smile. "I'm sure he'll be okay."

"Oh yeah, but Daph's freaking out. I guess she just got..."

"Scared?" I blush when I realize I've managed to complete his thought, and I receive an easy, confirming bob of the head. 

"I, like, know how she feels."

I know that he does, because Shaggy's not exactly the bravest man in the world. Not that he isn't loyal, and doesn't pull more than his weight on the team. But he is a bit of a scaredy cat.

"Wanna talk a walk, Vel?"

His words surprise me, but they shouldn't. We both need to unwind after the chase, and our congratulatory burgers won't be ready for another fifteen minutes.

As we exited the parking lot, a bark sounded, and then the romping progress of a dog's weight on concrete.

"Rait Ror Me!"

I smile again; if I'm fond of the boy, I'm fond of his dog, too. Though Scooby's basically everyone's dog, after so many years of being together. He skids to a stop and pants expectantly, looking from Shaggy to me with the enthusiasm of a puppy.

"You wanna go for a walk, Scoob?" Shaggy asks, crouching down to meet Scooby eye-to-eye.

"Ru-huh!" The tail wags and the enormous tongue emerges, licking his master's face with enthusiasm. Shaggy's pleasant, almost sweet laugh seems to cut through my concerns. 

With the click of a leash to a collar, we're off.

***

A few blocks away from the flashing lights of the crime scene, Shaggy and I find a concrete bridge, suspended over a river. In the dim light we watch it flow between the trees and below us feet. 

I lean against the steel barrier and watch its progress; if I squint hard enough, I can see stars reflected into the rippling water, abve the faces of a tall boy, a shorter girl, and the thoughtful mug of a Great Dane.

"Whatt're you thinking about, Velma?"

My brow furrows. I had been thinking about an old passage from a Winnie the Pooh book, about the Pooh sticks. Which sent me to remembering old theories of mine, which had been scribbled away. All of these thoughts are too scattered to be accurately expressed, so I say, "I'm thinking about what it must be like here in the summer."

Shaggy smiles, his expression thoughtful. "It must be, like, far-out." It was nice enough, now that fall was settling in. "Maybe we'll come by here again."

I wish we would. "I don't know, Shag. When was the last time we've passed through a town more than once?"

He thinks. "You know, I can't think of one. That's a bummer."

"I know. But I sort of like it. Adds to the adventure." That's the truth, at least in part, and he doesn't think about it for too long, which I'm thankful for.

"Are you ever lonely, Shaggy?"

"No way!" He answers right away. "Not with you and Fred and Daph..."

"Rand re!" Scooby's ears perk up as he proclaims.

"Oh, I know that you're not alone-alone. I mean...do you ever feel lonely for...a girlfriend?"

"Uh -" He bends over and whispers in my ear. "I do, Vel."

"Me too. Well, for a boyfriend."

"So you and..."

"Nope. And you and..."

"Nope."

There's a certain, special brand of discomfort that fills an empty space when you realize that everyone in the room is free.

"Jinkies, Shag."

"What?"

"Don't look at me like that!" I know that I'm blushing, and I take my glasses off, rubbing my eyes, as though I can avoid the curious stare he's giving me. When I put my glasses back on, he's still watching me.

"I dunno..."

"What?"

"You look different out here, Vel...but the same."

"Shag, did you eat something funny? I don't know if any of that meat was any good..."

"Nah." He tilts his head again. "It's like I'm seeing you in a different way." He's at a loss for words; the rangy arms flop to his side. "I don't know how to say it."

But I understand. I see him a little differently at the moment, too.

He's always been nice to me, especially nice. Not in the polite way Freddie treats me, but like a real friend. I think I'm the only human being on the team, maybe even off it, who listens to him, pays close attention to him. And he's a lot deeper than I used to give him credit for.

"Vel?"

I'm the one tilting my head now. I'm the one leaning against him. 

"Zoinks..." I hear him mumble, before our lips touch.

I remember my old theories, the ones that prophesies what I once believed. That time is finite, constantly changing.

Why is it that this one kiss seems to last to that one impossible stretch of time called 'forever'?

Eventually, I let go, but only because I have to. Scooby, who had been watching us the entire time, looks as though he had licked a lemon.

"What is it, Scooby?" I smile.

"Ruck!" He comments.

"Yuck?" Shaggy lets go of me and squats down once more to speak to the dane. "Scoob, you, like, kiss people all the time!"

"Reah!" His face brightens at that realization. Shaggy laughs along with me, and our eyes lock together. Twin beams of light bear down on us, and a horn honks away. When we turn together, the Mystery Machine awaits.

Daphne's face is pure suspicion as we climb into the back. I know she'll want details, but I don't have anything to tell.

Yet.

***

I wake up to the flashing of a neon sign. My glasses are so smudged that I can't make out the words; a quick cleaning with a cloth and I know we're in the parking lot of the Good Heavens Diner outside of town. We're going back the way we came, I realize. Old Mister McGuillicudy must've stiffed us.

I stretch and turn on the old sleeping bag; Fred will want his turn, and I'm sure he's been driving all night. The dawn is pink over a brown desert floor. 

I place my hand on the door, ready to leave in search of breakfast. But a conversation taking place on the other side stops me.

"...Roo rike rer!"

"Ssh! Keep it down, Scoob!"

"Rou do!"

"Uh-huh. But don't tell Velma. We've gotta, like, take it slow and easy."

"Rokay."

"Besides, I, like, don't even know if she knows I'm alive!"

Shag, you're wrong. I think I knew before, but I'd have to be the dumbest girl in the world not to know now, and be gladder for the knowledge.

Now, what do I do with it?

THE END

**Author's Note:**

> This work of fanfiction uses characters from The Scooby Doo Franchise, which is the property of Hanna-Barbarra/Turner/Cartoon Network/Williams Street. Infringement for monetary gain has not occurred, and this is a work of fanfiction intended for nonprofit use only.


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